Kim
Crawford at The Turf with Andy Tarry and execellars“New Zealand comes to Devon”

Exminster,
Devon June 9th, 2004
An evening’s tasting of the New Zealand wines of Kim Crawford
hosted by the winemaker himself, followed by a seafood dinner at the
Turf, Exminster? Yes, please, Andy, I said, when my friend, Exeter’s
best independent wine merchant, (www.execellars.co.uk)
called me. We can go down by boat, I offered. Only problem, at 7 pm
when we were due to head out, there was no water, our RIB high and dry,
sitting immovably on the glistening Topsham mud.No
worries, said Andy, we’ll have another drink. And we did. The
thing about tide is that though you can’t do anything about it,
you can utterly depend on the fact that it will inexorably come in when
it is supposed to. So as soon as our boat was afloat, and James Redfern
had come up from Turf in his sportsboat, and Paul Kingdom had loaded
up his roomy Ribtech not only with guests but with all of Kim Crawford’s
wines, we set off in something of a convoy, us bringing up the rear
as we pootled down through the winding mudbanks, from Topsham downriver
to the Turf Lock, enjoying a glass or two of a rather excellent Ricci
Curbastro Franciacorta Brut.The
evening was hosted by Clive and Ginny Redfern of Turf, who over the
past, what, thirteen or fourteen years, have turned this unique water-
and canal-side inn — one of very few in the country that is not
accessible by car — into one of the best pubs you’ll find
anywhere (provided you don’t end up here on a sunny and therefore
heaving Bank Holiday weekend). Of course, Turf is our local and we’ve
been coming here for literally a quarter of a century, by foot, dinghy,
canoe, bicycle, yacht, and now RIB; indeed it’s fair to say that
we’ve enjoyed some of the more significant moments in our lives
here over the years. These days, with Ginny and Clive now joined by
their sons James and Ollie in running the place, with a superb kitchen
team as well as friendly and enthusiastic young people serving both
food and behind the bar, the place is really humming and has never been
better. Add to that a great selection of wines supplied by Andy, superb
ales from the local Otter Brewery and, well, it doesn’t get much
better than that.For
this evening's wine tasting, Andy together with Richard van Ruth of
Liberty Wines (Kim Crawford’s UK agent) had assembled a most congenial
gathering. Steve Edwards of Michael Caines Restaurants was there with
his wife Tracey. It was nice to meet Nick and Sophie Coilley from Agaric
Restaurant, Ashburton (we knew and enjoyed Nick’s cuisine when
he was the chef at The Carved Angel). There was a New Zealand chef and
his English wife who have just taken over The Smokehouse in Porthleven,
Cornwall. Plus other friends and of course the eponymous winemaker himself,
Kim Crawford.The
wine tasting was held upstairs in the old sitting room that overlooks
the wide Exe estuary, and beyond the massive evergreen oak (on which
a generation of children, including ours, have learned to climbed ropes)
to the canal mouth that leads down to the sea. Yes, looking out over
this gorgeous waterscape, it seemed an absolutely fitting place to be
tasting wines made in the cool climate of New Zealand’s Marlborough
district of the South Island. We
began with a first tasting of Kim’s Marlborough Sauvignon
Blanc 2004, bottled only last week Thursday, said Kim. Pale
in colour, intensely aromatic with a pungent, herbaceous character that
is by no means over-powering, and a zesty, citrus finish that was razor
sharp. This is a beautifully expressive example of Kiwi Sauvignon at
its best. The Marlborough Dry Riesling 2003 has an
impressively exotic and ripe nose, with hints of ginger and honey. In
the mouth, it’s a big, powerful wine, the acidity softened and
tempered by a year’s ageing; though there is a touch of residual
sugar to round it off, the dry finish makes this a wine equally good
as an apéritif as with food. I somehow missed tasting the Marlborough
Unoaked Chardonnay 2003 but Kim (my Kim, not the winemaker)
said it was her favourite white of the evening (and she is definitely
not usually a Chardonnay fan): ripe and full in flavour, yet exceedingly
fresh and clean at the same time, not in the least heavy or cloying.
Pinot Gris is not a grape usually associated with New Zealand, but Kim
Crawford’s Marlborough Boyszone Vineyard Pinot Gris 2003
is an intriguing example. Part of the wine was fermented in used American
oak and there is a proportion of Chardonnay added to the final blend.
The result is a full and powerful wine that combines the intense aromatic
character — apricots and lychees — in a richly deep and
full palate with just a touch of residual sweetness that comes through
at the finish. The
whimsically named Pansy Rosé 2003 was a revelation:
everyone adored it! Made from Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes, the
rather full colour bled from a portion of the grapes left on the skins
after just a day’s crushing. With intense berry fruit aromas,
this is a gorgeously gluggable wine, full juicy fruit and with enough
body to stand up to a range of foods. Finally we tasted two Pinot Noirs.
The first was Kim’s ‘straight’ Marlborough
Pinot Noir 2003, medium weight in body with a deliciously attractive
Pinot nose of wild berries and cherries; juicy and attractively soft
on the palate, with clean and moderately persistent finish. The Anderson
Vineyard Pinot Noir 2002 is in another class. Aged in both
new and old French oak, it has a deeper colour and an intense nose that
combines primary fruity aromas, notably raspberries, with soft new oak
and the deeper, vegetal Pinot tones that come with bottle age. On the
palate, the wine displays a rich and almost voluptuously silky character
with a fine balance of fruit, oak and grippy tannins. A truly wonderful
wine!(All
Kim Crawford wines, including the reds, incidentally, are now sealed
with screw-top Stelvin closure. According to Kim, this ensures that
cork taint is eliminated, oxidation is minimised and he can be sure
that the wines will reach the consumer in the way that he himself intends
them to be. Personally, I don't have a problem with this, and indeed
have come to enjoy reaching into a 'fridge, pulling out a bottle of
something I know is good, and just twisting off the cap to open.)Wine
tasting completed, we repaired downstairs to enjoy an informal but delicious
meal prepared by the Turf kitchen team led by Ollie Redfern. Bruschetta,
guacomole and humous appetisers were followed by monkfish wrapped in
prosciutto and served with local English asparagus. A richly dense and
delicious chocolate tart to finish. The meal was prepared and served
informally yet with an easy style and indeed the flavours of Devon seemed
to be an ideal complement to Kim’s pungent, characterful, relaxed
and, yes, somewhat irreverent New Zealand wines.Over
the years, we’ve been to many wine tastings, but this certainly
must rank as one of the most enjoyable. The mixture of great wines,
congenial company, excellent food and the unique setting of Turf meant
that rather than tasting wines in isolation, we were able to experience
them with the winemaker in the broader context of how they are meant
to be drunk and enjoyed, which for me really is wine is all about. It
was pitch dark when we made our way down to the boats for the return
passage upriver. But Topsham boats have an uncanny way of knowing their
way back from Turf with seemingly little assistance required from the
driver. We sped up the channel, picking out glimpses of the starboard
and port buoys almost as we passed them, disturbing the flocks of birds
who had hunkered down for the evening. As we approached Topsham, we
suddenly came upon a shoal of Exe salmon: in their seeming joy at making
their way back upriver to spawn, ten, fifteen, maybe more fish leapt
out of the water all around us! It
was a magical finish to a great evening.